Leylakhanim (Leyla) Ganbarli

Leylakhanim (Leyla) Ganbarli was born in Baku in 1992. After graduating from the seven-year piano program at Huseyngulu Sarabski House of Culture, she received a Bachelor of Arts degree from the Department of Cinema and Television at the Azerbaijan State University of Culture and Arts. Leyla received a Master of Arts in cinema and television in Anadolu University in Turkey. While she was a student, Leyla held a variety of roles in several short film projects including as art director, writer and actress. “A butcher’s daughter”, her first independent short documentary co-produced with Chai Khana multimedia platform was selected to the Film Market of Visions Du Reel 2021 and had its world premiere at Cinedoc Tbilisi.

In addition to filmmaking, Leyla also paints, draws and creates collages.

Author's stories

09.09.2021

After almost five decades working as an animator, prominent Azerbaijani author Elchin Akhundov was forced to retire. The man behind many popular Soviet cartoons, Elchin tries to reconcile with his new life. Deprived of the opportunity to create and teach the next generation of animators, he tries to stay creative with limited resources. Surrounded by the paper dolls he creates now, Akhundov reflects on his life, age, creativity and need to share his knowledge with a new generation.

No time to retire